Homemade Breadtwists

I LOVE bread. Pretty much in any form. And when I have people over, I have to make some sort of bread to go with dinner. These remind me of Pizza Factory breadsticks. They are SO soft and SO delicious! It’s also an awesome recipe because they are fast. There isn’t a lot of rising time. You can also use this dough as a pizza crust. Just use half of the dough for a pizza and the other half for a batch of breadsticks. One batch made 2 full cookie sheets of breadsticks. 

1½ cups warm water
2 T sugar
1 T yeast
3½ cups flour
1 tsp Salt
3 T butter 
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Garlic Salt

Mix warm water, sugar and yeast together.  Let that sit for 5 minutes.  Add flour and salt to the water, sugar, and yeast.  Mix this until smooth and let it raise for 10 minutes.  I used my Kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook.

Roll out the dough in a large square on a floured surface.  Brush the dough with the melted butter and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and garlic salt. Fold the dough in half.  Cut the dough into one inch strips with a pizza cutter. Twist the one inch strips of dough and place on a cookie sheet.  Let that sit for another 10-15 minutes to raise.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  My oven took about 17 minutes for these to be lightly brown.

Immediately after baking brush with more garlic butter and sprinkle with garlic salt and grated parmesan cheese.  Serve with marinara sauce, alfredo sauce, or ranch.

*From The Recipe Critic

Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread

Have you ever been to Macaroni Grill? The bread they serve there is beyond amazing!! It's the perfect appetizer for hearty Italian meal. When I need a quick bread for dinner, I turn to this beauty. It’s easy to make for bread because it only rises once. It’s SOOOO GOOOOOD!!! Sometimes I just get a craving for it and absolutely have to make it. I’ve made it over a dozen times now and it’s turned out perfect every single time. The dough is so easy to whip up, then let it rise, then put it on the cookie sheet to bake. Yep, that easy.

Mmmmm…crisp on the outside and warm and fluffy on the inside. Then you just tear it and dip it in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. My ABSOLUTE favorite!!!

1 tbsp dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 -3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary or 2 tsp dry rosemary
1 tbsp oil, olive oil or canola
nonstick cooking spray
2 tbsp butter, melted
coarse salt

Combine yeast, sugar and warm water in a large mixing bowl. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes or until frothy. Mix in salt 1/2 of the rosemary and 2 1/4 cups flour (it’s best with a mixer fitted with a dough hook)

Mix/ knead until dough is smooth and elastic about 8-10 minutes by hand or 3-5 minutes in a mixer…you may need to add more flour. In a large glass or plastic bowl, place oil and use your hand or a paper towel to coat the inside of the bowl with the oil. Place the dough in the oiled bowl, cover and place in warm area. Allow to rise until doublesd. Approx 30-40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray (or bake on parchment paper or Silpat liners), shape dough into two small round loaves and place each one on the cooking sheet 4-5 inches apart. Use fingers to push down and leave small wells where the butter can gather.
Using a pastry brush, brush butter evenly over the two loaves. Sprinkle each loaf with remaining rosemary and about 1/4 of coarse salt per loaf.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with dipping sauce (recipe to follow) you can slice it or just rip off pieces.

Dipping Sauce:
Combine equal parts balsamic vinegar and olive oil, add some fresh cracked pepper and coarse salt if desired.

*Adapted from The Mother Huddle

Honey Butter

Ok, so I was gone for a while:) A long while. I am just OVERLOADED with awesome recipes to share! Including this gem. I got this recipe from my sister-in-law. She introduced it to us a few years ago at Christmas and we’ve all been dreaming about it ever since. I’ve tried a lot of different kinds of honey butter, but his one is BY FAR the best. It’s so creamy and delicious. The best part is that it stays soft in the fridge. There’s nothing worse than trying to spread hard butter on a warm roll.

This year for Christmas I bottled up some homemade strawberry jam (here) and honey butter with homemade rolls (here) for all of my neighbors and friends. I think it must be a new tradition! Not to mention less work than making hundreds of treats that people are already getting. It’s nice to get something different. Impress your neighbors with this amazing recipe.

Honey Butter

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup honey
1 cup sugar
1 pound (4 sticks) salted sweet cream butter
1 tsp vanilla

Bring whipping cream, honey and sugar to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Put cold butter in a blender. Pour boiling mixture and vanilla over butter and blend until smooth. Pour into containers and refrigerate overnight before eating. Store in the fridge.

7-Up Biscuits

So I needed a bread to make at the last minute on Sunday and got online to see what I could find. I really wanted rolls, but didn’t have the time. I’ve made several biscuit recipes that I love, but wanted to see if there was something else out there. That’s when I found these.

I will never make another biscuit! They were so flaky, buttery and delicious. Not to mention super fast. Because of Bryce’s birthday party I happened to have 7-up on hand which was awesome since we never have soda in the house. Also since I didn’t have Bisquick, I ended up making my own, which I ‘m also going to keep using. If you have people coming over at the last minute and need something quick and delicious, try these!!

4 cups Bisquick (or all of this homemade recipe found here)

1 cup sour cream

1 cup 7-up

1/2 cup (1stick) melted butter

Mix Bisquick, sour cream and 7-up in a large bowl. Dough will be very soft. I actually had to add a little more Bisquick until I was able to handle it to knead it. Knead and fold dough until it comes together. Flour your counter and pat dough out until about 1 inch thick. Cut them out using a cookie cutter or cup about 3-4 inches wide. Melt butter and put into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Place biscuits on top of melted butter. You should end up with almost exactly 12 biscuits. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until browned on top. Enjoy!!

Homemade Biscuits

Perfect, easy biscuits. They were even extremely delicious the next day. Definitely one to go in the recipe box!

3 cups flour
1 1/2 t. salt
1 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 stick butter
3/4 c. buttermilk (If you don’t have buttermilk, you can use 3/4 cup milk + 2T lemon juice.I
1 egg
1/4 c. water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and butter until crumbly. Mix in buttermilk, egg and just enough water to make a workable dough. Mix the dough until it is just barely combined (don't over mix). Roll the dough onto a floured cutting board about 1 inch thick. Cut with a 2 inch biscuit cutter, or a 2 inch round cup. Place on a greased baking sheet (touching each other) and bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Makes about 12-15 biscuits, depending how thick you make them.

Tips to making awesome biscuits:
*ONLY hand mix your dough. Don't mix in a Bosch or with a hand mixer. The dough will be too tough and the dough will become dry if you use a mixer. You don't want to over mix this recipe. The best way to mix this dough is with a pastry cutter or using two knives and cutting the dough back and forth. This method takes a little longer but will ensure the perfect biscuit. You want pieces of butter left in your biscuit, that is what keeps the dough light and flaky.
*Next tip is to keep your biscuit dough fairly thick. You want a tall and thick biscuit more than you do a thin and hard biscuit. Keeping the dough thick will ensure a chewy and soft biscuit. I keep my dough about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick (cooking times may vary depending how thick you make them).

*From dealstomeals.blogspot.com

Buttermilk Bread

Sweet, smooth, soft and sturdy. That's how I like my homemade bread. I do love incredibly soft homemade breads, but sometimes I like to have one that can be sturdy enough to hold up a stuffed sandwich. Justin has been all about this certain buttermilk bread we buy at the store, so when we ran out I decided I would see if I could make something similar that he would love. This hit the spot! It has such interesting ingredients also: buttermilk, mashed potatoes and honey. I love things that are out of the box! Well it really made a difference here. It rose perfectly and baked up good and soft. If you're looking for a twist on your regular homemade bread routine, try this one!

1 cup warm water
1 T active dry yeast
1 cup warm buttermilk*
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 T salt
1/2 cup mashed potatoes**
6 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in very warm water. Combine all ingredients besides flour. Add flour and knead til smooth and springy, 5-10 minutes by hand, adding a little flour only if necessary, dough will be slightly sticky (I did this all in my Kitchenaid with the dough hook attachment and let it knead itself until it completely cleaned all of the sides of the mixing bowl.) Place in greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap and then a dish towel. Let rise til doubled. I usually turn my oven on to 100 degrees and turn it off and then place my covered dough in the warm oven for about 2 hours. Gently deflate dough, divide into two equal halves and place into 2 greased loaf pans. Punch them down into the pans. Place back in a warm oven covered with a dishtowel. Leave until dough has topped the pan but not over-proofed, about 45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes until well-browned and sounds hollow when thumped. Remove from pans to cool and brush tops with melted butter. Immediately enjoy a thick slice smothered with butter and homemade strawberry jam...or maybe that's just what I do:)

*If you're like me and go through spurts when you use buttermilk, but don't constantly keep it on hand, I would recommend buying powdered buttermilk. I buy SaCo Cultured Buttermilk Blend and it works great and lasts a lot longer than fresh buttermilk.

**If you don't have any leftover mashed potatoes, I use instant. I actually use Augason Farms Potato Gems food storage potatoes. They are wonderful and super quick!

*Adapted from The Fresh Loaf

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

I had some leftover buttermilk and found this delicious recipe. It's super easy and doesn't disappoint. A classic, yummy bread that you'll love!

2 c. flour
1/2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 c. margarine
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla
3 T brown sugar
1 T cinnamon

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, & salt. Set aside. Cream together margarine and sugar. Add the eggs. Alternately add dry ingredients and buttermilk to the margarine mixture. Start and end with dry ingredients. Add vanilla. Pour 1/2 the batter into a greased loaf pan. Mix together brown sugar and cinnamon & sprinkle over the batter. Top with the remaining batter. With a knife, make swirls through the batter. Top with a good sprinkling of brown sugar...just for good measure:) Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

*From Mandy's Recipe Box

Lionhouse Rolls

Oh boy. These could be the death of me! I made a batch for a family dinner and they were wiped CLEAN....not one to spare. I was actually really impressed at how easy they were! In fact, they are so easy I'm making them for our family reunion coming up this weekend. They are the perfect roll to make and then freeze - my kind of roll! So in case you were wondering...perfection.

2 T active-dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or shortening (I used butter)
1 egg
2 1/2 t salt
2/3 cup nonfat dry milk
5-6 cups flour

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, (I use my Kitchenaid) combine yeast and water. Let stand 5 minutes or until good and bubbly. Add sugar, shortening, salt, dry milk, 2 cups flour and egg. Beat together until very smooth. Add remaining flour gradually (about 1/2 cup at a time) until a soft but not sticky dough is formed.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and knead until it is smooth and satiny ( I actually don't knead the bread for as long as it says to...I never do and it turns out as perfect as ever.) Return dough to an oiled bowl and cover to let rise until doubled. (about 1 1/2 to 2 hours)

Separate dough into three portions. Roll out each portion into a circle and cut with a pizza cutter into 8 pie-shaped pieces (triangles) (or 12 pieces if you want smaller rolls - this is what I did). Roll up crescent-style and place on baking sheet. Cover with saran wrap that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes - until nicely browned.

Makes 2-3 dozen rolls depending on the size you make the rolls.

*From the Lionhouse in Salt Lake City, but I actually got them from Sadies Kitchen.

Honey Wheat Bread

I've been making this bread for years now and don't know why it's taken me so long to put in on here!! It's the best, most delicious bread I've ever had. I LOVE it. Bryce loves it. My other half loves it. Doesn't it look just delicious cooling on the railing of the porch? Let me just say yesterday when I made these I was feeling like such a home-maker. You know...yeast, rising dough, fresh warm bread...that'll do it to ya.

I got this recipe from my cousin, Jenna, years ago. She made it and I ate it. Then I bugged her daily till I got it. She found it on allrecipes.com (which also is a favorite of mine.) The thing that's so wonderful about it is you use half whole wheat flour and half white. This tactic must be used to trick the people eating it. It's got the whole wheat goodness, but the look and texture of a white bread. GENIUS!! I also like how it doesn't use any white sugar, just honey. The flavor is phenomenal! Just try it...it's so easy. If I can do it - you can too...seriously.

3 cups warm water (about 110 degrees F)
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1/3 cup honey
5 cups bread flour
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon salt
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly. (A little trick I use in situations where I don't have a nice warm porch is I turn the microwave on for 1 minute with nothing in there. Then I open it and put the dough in there for a warm place to rise. I also will turn my oven on and when it gets to about 150 degrees, I turn it off. Then I put the dough in there to rise. Both ways work like a charm!)

Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not real sticky - just pulling away from the counter, but still sticky to touch. This may take an additional 2 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.

Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine when done to prevent crust from getting hard. Cool completely

Homemade Soft Pretzels

I was browsing for something to make to enjoy on our relaxing Sunday and found these. I've been wanted to make soft pretzels for years now, but was too skeptical of my abilities and didn't want to be let down. These are DIVINE!!! I might have to say that they are BETTER than anything you can buy at the mall!! And surprisingly they were super easy and turned out just as the recipe said they would. I love those kinds of recipes!

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 T sugar
2 t Kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
4 cups flour (approximately)
1/2 cube butter, melted
vegetable oil
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 T water
Pretzel salt

Combine water, sugar and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer (I used my Kitchen Aid.) Sprinkle yeast on top and stir very slightly. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes until mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until combined. Change to medium speed and knead until dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl (this usually takes several minutes.) Remove dough from the bowl and in a new bowl, oil the sides with vegetable oil. Place dough in the oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm place for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and lightly oil them and set aside.

Bring 10 cups of water and baking soda to a rolling boil.

In the meantime, turn the dough onto a lightly oiled surface and divide into 8 equal parts. Roll out each piece into a 24 inch rope. Make a U shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press them into the bottom of the U shape in order to make the shape of a pretzel.

Place pretzels into boiling water, one at a time, for 30 seconds each. Remove them from the water with a large, flat spatula. Place on parchment paper and oil lined cookie sheet. Brush each top with egg yolk and water and then sprinkle with salt, cinnamon and sugar, or any other topping you like. Bake until dark, golden brown in color, about 12 minutes. Transfer to cooling rack.

*When I let any yeast dough rise, I usually turn my oven on to the lowest setting and wait until it gets to about 110 degrees and then shut it off. Then I put my dough in there, usually covered with plastic wrap, and it rises perfectly EVERY time. I don't know about you guys...but it took me a while to figure out how not to completely butcher yeast recipes!

*Adapted from The Food Network

Zucchini Bread

Do you have tons of extra zucchini from your garden??? This is the BEST recipe out there! It was so completely moist and delicious...believe me...just try it.

3 cups flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
3 t cinnamon
3 eggs
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c applesauce
2 c sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
3 t vanilla
2 1/2 c grated zucchini

1/4 c brown sugar
2 t cinnamon

Grease and flour 2 8by4 loaf pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Beat eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and sugars until well combined. Add sifted ingredients slowly until just incorporated. Fold in zucchini. Pour into prepared pans. Mix 1/4 c brown sugar and 2 t cinnamon and sprinkle over top of both batters. Bake 55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes and then remove to wire rack to cool completely.

*Adapted from allrecipes.com

Banana Bread

1/2 c butter
1 1/2 c sugar
1 t vanilla
2 eggs
2 c flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
4 T buttermilk
1 c mashed bananas
brown sugar
flour

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time on low speed until creamy. Sift flour with salt and soda. Combine buttermilk and bananas. Add flour and bananas alternating between the two three times ending with bananas. Pour into 2 prepared loaf pans. Prepare pans by lining with nonstick cooking spray and combining 2 T flour with 2 T brown sugar. Coat the inside of pan with flour/brown sugar mixture. Top with a generous layer of brown sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 4o min. Turn heat down to 325 degrees and bake about another 10 minutes or until knife comes out clean. SO good and SO moist!!

*Adapted from my aunties banana bread recipe

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

**WARNING: This makes a TON, so unless you have a huge family, plan to give a lot away.**

1 lg. can (29 oz.) pumpkin
4 ½ cups flour
1 ½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp. nutmeg
1 ½ tsp cloves
5 eggs
1 ½ tsp soda
4 ½ tsp cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp ginger
3 ½ cup sugar
2 cups oil

Mix all but chocolate chips. Add chips. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Makes 4 medium loaves.

*If you like Great Harvest Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread, you HAVE to try this!!! It tastes just like the real thing. And don't even think about halving the recipe because how are you going to half a egg?? I made 3 GINORMOUS loaves and they all weighed about 40 pounds each! Everyone that I gave a loaf too loved it and it was gone soon after they got it. When I was mixing it, I was a little worried about how much stuff was going into my Kitchen Aid and it was almost topping the bowl! I added about 2 cups of chocolate chips instead of 1 (pretty much one entire bag of Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips that I dredged in flour so they don't sink to the bottom of the loaf.) I also was out of cloves, so I just added a tad more nutmeg and cinnamon. After an hour, I just poked a sharp knife into the center of the loaf and if it came out doughy, I added 3 more minutes and did this until it came out cakey on the knife. SOOOO GOOD!!!!

*Picture and recipe courtesy of Real Mom Kitchen...remember my camera is dead and buried.

Crescent Potato Puff Rolls

WARNING: this makes 5-6 doz. so you should half it unless you are feeding an army.

4 c. warm water
1 c. powdered milk
1 c. shortening
2 c. mashed potato flakes
4 T. SAF yeast (instant rise yeast)
1 c. sugar
4 eggs, beaten
2 T. salt
8-11 c. flour

Mix all ingredients except flour in mixer until just barely mixed together. I start with one cup at a time (using a dough hook now) and wait for it to BARELY start to pull away from the sides of the bowl and let knead for 5 minutes. Let rise until double in size. Roll out in chunks to a circle and use a pizza cutter and cut like a pizza. Roll up to shape of crescent roll. Place on greased cookie sheet. Let rise again. Bake at 325 for 18-20 minutes. When they come out of the oven, brush them with melted butter (you can flavor the butter with whatever you like…Italian seasoning, garlic salt, parmesan cheese, etc…in this picture I used butter, garlic salt and parmesan cheese.)

BIG TIP: DO NOT OVER FLOUR! The trick is not adding too much flour AND not over cooking them. So, only add enough flour so that the dough is barely beginning to pull away from the sides of the bowl. After it has risen and you pull the dough out to roll... it will be super sticky. Just flour up then. The extra flour that's on your hands and on the table will add just enough flour to make these perfect. Many times I only set my oven to 325 and barely cook them for 18 minutes. It really depends on altitude and stuff like that (I think). If the tops are becoming golden brown pull them out. If the tops are cooked and the inside isn't... next time lower your oven temp. Seems complicated, but once you get it right they are TO DIE FOR!... perfectly moist and SUPER SOFT!!!